John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs was published by The Century Company in 1913. London subtitled it “Alcoholic Memoirs” and wrote it as a frank account of his lifelong relationship with alcohol — from his first drink as a child (beer swiped from his father’s pail), through the heavy drinking of his oyster-pirating and sailing years, to the disciplined but persistent drinking of his literary career.
London’s argument is distinctive: he insists he was never physically addicted to alcohol — that he never craved drink — but that the social customs of masculinity, adventure, and working-class life made drinking inescapable. “John Barleycorn” (the old folk-personification of alcohol) was not a demon that seized him but a companion who accompanied every social situation, every celebration, every act of fellowship. The book’s power lies in this honesty: London does not present himself as a helpless victim but as a willing participant who recognized the damage alcohol inflicted and yet could not easily abandon the social contexts in which drinking was mandatory.
The memoir was written partly in support of the Prohibition movement (London supported women’s suffrage and Prohibition, seeing both as progressive causes) and was used as temperance propaganda. But it transcends propaganda: London’s intelligence and honesty prevent him from reducing his experience to a moral tale. The passages on alcohol’s effect on the creative mind — how it simultaneously loosens inhibition and degrades judgment — remain among the most perceptive ever written.
Collecting John Barleycorn
First edition (The Century Company, New York, 1913): Green cloth with gold lettering.
Market values:
- First edition, fine: $200–$500
- Very good: $75–$200
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation. Classic addiction memoir.
The Alcoholic Memoir
John Barleycorn (1913) is London’s autobiography of his relationship with alcohol — one of the earliest and most honest addiction memoirs in English. London traces his drinking from boyhood (his first beer at age five) through oyster pirating, sealing, the Klondike, and literary fame, describing with clinical precision how alcohol gradually took control of his life while he maintained a facade of productivity and success. The book was adopted by the temperance movement, but London’s attitude is more complicated than simple temperance: he loves drink even as he recognizes it is destroying him.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did London die of alcoholism? His death at forty (1916) was officially attributed to uremic poisoning from kidney failure, but alcoholism was almost certainly a contributing factor. Some scholars believe he took an intentional overdose of morphine, though this remains debated.